A Deadly Labor: Alternate Take
by Fox Mcloud SNR
Summary: This is a What If? for my story A Deadly Labor.


**This is the way the story was originally going to turn out when I was feeling particularly vindictive.**

**A Deadly Labor - Alternate Take**

A loud cry echoed through the halls of the Jade Palace.

"WE'RE LOSING HER!" A nurse yelled in panic.

"Please come on ma'am! You just need to hold in there" begged the feline doctor. The woman giving birth had been going through the longest and most painful labor he had ever seen in the thirty years that he had been practicing medicine. She was sickly, weak and frighteningly close to death's door already. If they didn't deliver the child soon then both of them would die.

"Don't worry me! Please just save our baby!" The woman begged, the doctor looked sympathetically at her, "I'm doing all I can ma'am, you just need to give it another push ok?"

He got another shriek as a reply. The woman knew deep down that she was going to die doing this but what gave her the strength to continue was the thought of giving her child a life.

She tried to get some air as she finished the push and it had finally produced some results, the child's head was now visible but it was clear that it needed one more to be free and time was growing short. The doctor smiled to reassure the poor woman, "Okay, nearly done, we're just going to need one more and then it's finally done."

"I...I can't." The woman sobbed. That last one had taken everything she had. There was nothing she could do, she and her baby were going to die. Just as she began to give up hope the man who had been standing by her side for the past 24 hours said.

"Please, Tigress don't let our child die!"

Tigress looked up and stared into the green spheres she had fallen in love with all those years ago. Every time they bore into her she found inner solace, strength and the will to fight on no matter the odds. Those eyes constantly watched her back like an eagle and kept her safe as they progressed into one of the most legendary duos to ever learn kung fu. These were the very same eyes that she hoped with all of her heart that their child have, so that one day they could shine like their father's, however those eyes were currently above fraught with desperation, worry and powerlessness.

Tigress felt determination swell up inside of her, it was like the fire that she felt while fighting an opponent. "Okay Po...I'll try..." She panted heavily. With a final ditch effort and a blood curdling wail Tigress poured the last ounces of her life into the last push.

"Good! Keep at it! He's coming now Tigress" The doctor shouted with joy, now there was a chance of life for both her and her child. However there was still the grim possibility that one of them wouldn't make it, the newborn came slowly but surely, in a few more seconds everything would become clear to them.

Tigress was getting weaker in front of them all warning them of an imminent bodily shut-down.

Po felt her grip fading fast. The entire time he had been there holding it, the entire time he had been by her side and now she was failing. "Tigress stay with me come on! Don't do it for me, do it for _him!_"

Tigress looked up at Po again with cheeks damp with tears, "Him?" she asked.

"Yeah Tigress just like you wanted, our baby boy with your fur and my eyes. Please...just hold on!" Fighting back the tears was harder then any of the battles he had had against Shen, Tai Lung or any other of his major villains.

"Po I can't do it" she whimpered. "I love you." She said as the life in her eyes went out and she laid back on the bed peacefully.

Po's heart shattered, "Tigress? TIGRESS!" He shouted. Her paw would have fallen away if he hadn't been holding onto it so tightly. "Tigress don't give out on me please!" He begged, tears started to course down his face and onto her bed. It was a pain that pierced him deeper than when when he had found out what had happened to both his parents and his race, more then when he heard Shifu's dying breath years ago. "Tigress! Tigress!" Po shouted again.

The sheep nurse walked slowly over to the grieving Dragon Warrior and placed a sympathetic hand onto his large,broad shoulder. "Dragon Warrior. I'm sorry, but she's-" Po stopped the worst sentence of his life by slapping the sheep's hand away.

"Tigress" Po whimpered once again, his voice was now hoarse from his desperate yelling and he'd never felt lower, he put his head next to hers. He felt a terrible mix of emotions swirling around inside of him, anger for not being able to do anything and because of the un-justness of the situation, regret fro ever convincing her to bear his child when she had said it wasn't a good idea due to the both of them being different species which had never been a good combination in the past, and finally despair because the first person he had ever truly loved that strongly and the love of his life was now dead in front of him, and there was nothing in the world that he could have done to stop it, not anything int he library of kung fu techniques that he knew that could bring people back to life. Po cursed the previous masters before him because of their lack of foresight.

The doctor had managed however to rescue the child moments before her passing and the baby was now wrapped in a bright orange blanket which had been chosen by Po so it would match Tigress's fur. The baby had stopped wailing rather quickly and moved to whimpering rather suddenly.

The doctor gestured to the nurse to come over, "Put him in the nursery, have him monitored twenty four-" the doctor said but he was interrupted.

"No!" Po growled, "I want to see my child" they both hesitated at the sight of the livid Dragon Warrior, who could blame them after all the many tales of his power were not exaggerated.

The doctor nodded and the nurse handed the child over to Po. Po drew his eyes on his baby for the first time and smiled sadly, he dreaded he day when he would have to tell his newborn what had happened to Tigress. Po saw that his baby was indeed a male and and sighed heavily, it was what they hoped for.

Po held his son close to him, both he and Tigress had been looking forward to choosing a name together...No, he couldn't think of Tigress now, it hurt him too much to even see her face in his mind, Po focused on his son's features, he was the spitting image of a male Tigress, except the eyes, the eyes were Po's. Po remembered wanting to pick the name 'Stormageddon' because it sounded cool but Tigress had merely laughed and refuted it.

She looked peaceful now, almost like she was asleep which tore another gash on Po's already broken heart. He openly cringed but held back his anguish for his son's sake. Po looked at the boy and thought about a name, without hesitating he thought of one. "Lang-Hua". He said before handing his son back to the nurse so she could put him in a better environment.

The nurse left the room and the doctor chose his next words carefully, "Do you wish to be alone with her?" Po was back to hovering over her and merely nodded. The doctor then left without a word.

Her face was still so beautiful even with the tear trails down her once warm cheeks. A long time ago before any of this he had seen her face in the midst of battle and fallen for her almost instantly. From that day on he knew that she would be the light of his life and bring him up from the darkest pits that life could throw at him, now she was dead and he was alone to face those from now on as well as having to now raise his newborn son completely alone.

"Tigress, I'm so sorry" Po murmured. He blamed himself and for the rest of his life he always would, whenever he saw that face in his mind he would forever be reminded of what he had caused by suggesting children to her and what it had cost both him and the children he had wanted. He had spent so much time with her, getting to know her, her deepest fear, brightest dreams, getting to know everything about her and at times it seemed like he could read her mind.

Po let a sob escape his lips, he put his face close to Tigress's and kissed her on the lips for the very last time, those very lips had turned him into a senseless wreck the first time they had met his cheek. The panda's throat tightened and speaking became impossible. "I'll love you no matter what Tigress. I'm sure you're in a better place know, by the gods I wish I was there with you. But I'm needed here, our son needs me and he needs you to but..." his thought trailed off there as he couldn't stomach the thought of his son growing up without a mother just like he did.

Po pulled away from the kiss and wiped his moist eyes, the panda sent one last silent goodbye to his beloved.

**2 Years Later...**

Lang-Hua ran everywhere now, he was the cutest thing with his orange and black fur, expressive green eyes and the fighter's spirit that Po had decided he had got from Tigress. He had already begun to show signs of his innate fighting ability because of his agility and his stamina but Po wanted to decide at a later point whether he wanted his son to lead the same life as him.

It was Christmas in China now and already the Valley was well into the festive spirit, Po had decided to spend the Christmas with the only family he had left instead of protecting the Valley, it was selfish but his son was more important to him then the villagers also Po doubted any bad guy would have the evil to rob anyone on Christmas.

Po held his arms out and picked him up, Lang-Hua beamed at his father and hugged him back. Po smiled into his son's shoulder and thought of what Tigress would possibly say. "Po, did you let him peek?" He imagined her velvet-like voice coming from the kitchen, "No I didn't, though judging by his speed if he grabbed one of his presents then it would take two kung fu masters to catch him" He replied to his thoughts.

Po sighed and focused on hugging his son, thinking about her wouldn't improve his mood and he knew how his son loved last year's Christmas, Po didn't want to ruin this for him. They lived in a small cottage overlooking the Valley, far enough for some well earned privacy but close enough so they could respond to any attacks. "Oh that reminds me, I need to get Zeng to deliver those cards to Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis" said Po out loud. His friends had all moved out of the Valley and taken up residence in other locations in order to protect more of China, they had reached out to him but he had rejected them all from pain.

"We should ask him to do it after the holidays though, it's unfair to ask him to leave his family just so he can do us a personal favor" suggested Po. Lang-Hua said nothing because as an infant he couldn't understand what his father was talking about. His son yawned and Po decided to put him to bed. "C'mon kiddo, let's put you to bed after all, I wouldn't want you to see that mystical, bearded panda comes down the chimney to deliver your present" Po internally sighed, he should be more careful, he wouldn't want to ruin Lang-Hua's perception of how his presents arrived, besides they didn't even have a chimney.

Po carried his son to bed and tucked him in, Po smiled softly at his son and then went to leave, "D-Daddy" came a soft voice, Po looked over his shoulder. "What is it son?", Lang-Hua looked at him sadly, "Why are you sad?" Po flinched slightly, he had been worrying for a long time about explaining this to him, Tigress's fate wasn't a subject he wanted his son to know just yet although now it looked like he might have no choice but to tell him.

Po softly walked over and kneeled down again, "I...just...miss your mother Lang" Po said sadly, the child looked confused, "Why? Is she on vacation?" Po grit his teeth and decided...to tell him another day, he smiled at him again, "No Lang, I'll you someday...when you're ready, now get to sleep so you'll be ready for tomorrow okay?" Lang nodded, "I love you daddy" Po nodded and kissed him on the forehead, "I love you too son." With that Po left the room and walked into his own which was opposite Lang's, the room had white walls and a black carpet with a orange bed sheets covering the king sized bed that was in the center of it.

Po looked around at the space, he felt like it was ready to swallow him whole. Po felt bad at not telling Lang the truth and for being a coward for not facing his own pain, but Lang didn't need to know right now. Po yawned and laid in bed, he struggled to get comfortable and tossed about in his sleep, after an hour of this he opened his eyes and gasped in fright when he saw Tigress in front of him.

She looked so real but he _knew _she wasn't, "Tigress, y-you're not real!" The apparition in front of him wrapped her arms around him and Po felt a small sense of comfort at her being there regardless of legitimacy. Po thought about pushing her memory into the back of his mind so he wouldn't have to be pained when he thought about her, the thought of losing her again was too much however. "Not in a million years", he said before closing his eyes and feeling a tear crawl down his face, she might be dead but she would forever be there to comfort him whether she be real or not.

**The End**

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